The Politics Of Tyranny

A new book Bloodlands, looks at the ties and similarities between two of the most recognizable names in history Hitler and Stalin. These two maniacal leaders are notably intertwined in the bloody history of 20th-century Europe. Even if your post-Marxist professor doesn’t think so.

The economist“Hitler and Stalin thus shared a certain politics of tyranny: they brought about catastrophes, blamed the enemy of their choice, and then used the death of millions to make the case that their policies were necessary or desirable. Each of them had a trans formative Utopia, a group to be blamed when its realisation proved impossible, and then a policy of mass murder that could be proclaimed as a kind of ersatz victory.”